


Soldiers of Fate

by Cinerari



Category: Captain Harlock, Gun Frontier, コスモウォーリアー零 | Cosmo Warrior Zero
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-20
Updated: 2017-08-01
Packaged: 2018-02-26 17:20:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 21,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2660162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cinerari/pseuds/Cinerari
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Welcome to the game, Harlock. It's recommended that you play to win, all of you. The price for losing is far more than just your life, so kill your doubles.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Convergence of the Twain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My first attempt at putting a fic on this site, so let's hope it goes okay. This is my cliche Battle Royal-type story, and if you don't have a base knowledge of the different Harlock series, you may be a little confused. Hope you like melodramatic character death.

Being a god was dreadfully boring. Watching over the threads of space and time was redundant after, well, an eternity of it. Luckily, humans were interesting. I especially liked their wars. I liked to watch them tear each other apart over small matters, set off devastating explosions, and throw the blame around until it was hard to tell why the whole thing had started in the first place. War was simply thrilling.

But even that became boring. It made me wonder why I should have to watch from a distance. I was a god, after all, even if I'd never been properly worshiped. With my strength I could destroy everything with the pluck of a single stand of the threads that held the infinite number of universes together. That would make things even more boring though.

It made more sense to bring myself some entertainment.

The idea came about when I noticed one figure in-particular. In some threads he was quite the legend, in others not but a whisper. It was unheard of to have so many universes where one man, different yet the same in each, could be connected to so many threads, so many fates. If he hadn't been a mortal, he could have been a god.

He was always so powerful, such a force to watch, yet he still had the space in his heart to care for his planet or friends or simply the fate of everything. Yes, this was the entertainment I needed. I only had to decide how many I wanted, and which ones.

I spread my gaze out across the endless expanse of the threads, choosing the ones I particularly liked, ones that were just different enough but mostly the same, just like him. Of course, just him on his own wasn't enough of a motivation, so I picked another from each thread as well. It would certainly tilt the balance of the game for a more entertaining run.

Finally, one-by-one I ripped them all from their worlds and tossed them into my limbo. Each one slept like a lifeless doll until I snapped my fingers, bringing them all to life. Perhaps I should have planned their meeting better, though it did bring a smile to my face to wonder how they would all tell each other apart.

* * *

 

Without looking, I knew Daiba's hands were trembling, ruining his aim. I knew he was trying to hide his fear, but his eyes were darting to every Mazone surrounding us. He took a retreating step to put his back closer to mine.

Yes, there was a chance we wouldn't make it out alive. There was always a chance of that. The idea didn't scare me, because I simply didn't have time to die at that moment. I had more important things to do. I would die later, when the opportunity was better. The only trouble was whether or not Daiba could manage to keep himself alive alongside me. Even with my help, he would need to be a quick shot.

"Gonna sing for me again?" he stuttered through a weak laugh.

I had to smile.

As the uniformed Mazone readied their guns, I felt his back against mine, and I could feel him shaking. Before I could tell him not to show his fear, I heard him give a short gasp. The weight of his back disappeared. I spun, shooting out a hand to catch him before he could fall. My thoughts raced as I tried to understand what had happened. They hadn't shot him. I would have heard it.

Then my eye opened. It was strange, because it hadn't been closed before. I knew it hadn't, and yet I opened it to see my hand still outstretched. I wasn't on the ship where I'd been before. Instead, the greenery around me looked as though it could only be from earth. There were mountains on the horizon and an endless field of flowers beneath my feet. Irritably, I thought I was dead for a brief moment.

"Captain," Daiba hissed, his hand suddenly tugging harshly on my arm. "What the fuck is going on? When did you change pants?"

It was certainly Daiba's voice, but he somehow sounded even angrier than usual. I glanced down to confirm that I was still wearing the same pants before I turned toward him. "What?" I frowned as I took in his appearance. "Are you sure you're not the one who changed clothes?"

It was much like his old outfit, but the pink coloring of the jacket and pants had been replaced by a deep tan, and his hair was a darker shade of blond. It felt like someone was attempting to pass as my crewman who most certainly wasn't him.

"What are you talking about?" he demanded. "Where the hell are we? This had better not be another goddamn Noo trick. I can't deal with this right now!" With an enraged yell, he kicked at one of the flowers underfoot. "Fuck this! Take me back right now you bastards!"

"Who are you?" I questioned slowly. I noticed that my weapons had disappeared from my belt, and I pawed for them to make sure it wasn't a hallucination trying to divert me. The whole thing felt like a hallucination, but it also felt too real to be.

"What do you mean!?" the young man barked. "I'm Daiba. Did you hit your head or something? Are you even the captain?" The angered glare never eased from his eyes as he looked me over. It seemed like he would punch me at any moment. He was pure rage and irritation.

"I am Captain Harlock," I answered calmly. "But you are not Tadashi Daiba."

"Who the hell do you think I am then?" he snapped. "This isn't even scary. It's just stupid." He returned to yelling at the sky. "Hear that you stupid bastards!? Your trick is fucking awful. Now put me back! I'm not scared of you!"

A bright, amused laugh filled the air. I couldn't guess the age or gender of whoever it came from. I couldn't even guess their location, but they appeared above me, floating in the air as though they were sitting on some invisible ledge. Their appearance was just as impossible to distinguish as their laugh. Clearly, whatever it was wasn't human. Its hair was a shining silver as though it could have been made from the metal. Pupil-less white eyes took us in with a warmth of kindness, along with its sharp-toothed smile. All of its features seemed sharp as well – its nose, brows, and chin. Age was impossible to determine. I could only guess somewhere between thirteen and twenty-five. It was all at once beautiful and disgusting, and I swore it looked slightly different every time I blinked.

"You are fun," it called down to the one calling himself Daiba. "I think I'll like you."

I had thought the thing was the "Noo" the boy had been speaking about, but he looked just as confused as I felt. "The hell are you?" he yelled.

It shook its head, long hair brushing against its shoulders. "Not important. You'd much rather meet the rest of the players, yes?"

With a snap of its thin fingers, over a dozen more people appeared around us. They were all in pairs, with nearly everyone looking just as on-edge as us. Every group was different, but in each one I found a man who could have been my twin. There were eight of us in all, many wearing similar uniforms to my own. A few stood out wildly, and some were taller or shorter. Some had slightly different shades of hair or two eyes instead of one. All but one of us shared the same scar. All but one wore a skull and crossbones. And as it happened, most of us were wearing different pants, and they all had empty holsters where their weapons should have been.

My Daiba was with one wearing black pants and a face void of expression. "Daiba," he called with a voice that sounded different to my ears, but one that I knew was my own. He eyed me with an almost invisible frown as our Daibas hesitantly began walking to trade places.

At the same time, I heard a few other calls for other people. All of them were uncertain.

"Captain?"

"Harlock?"

"Tadashi."

Except the very loud one from one of the young boys. "Harlock!" he screeched. "Who are these people!?"

"I don't know," a younger me in an odd outfit replied shortly. "Quit yelling." There appeared to be three clones in particular that stood out from the other five of us. Two were simply younger and with both their eyes. The one in white pants and a black shirt was paired with the loudmouth boy, who continued to badger him with questions, while the one in a blue one-piece remained absolutely silent alongside an irritable-looking man with a commander's cap who appeared taller than me.

But the strangest one, who all of us had taken to staring at the most, appeared to have been taken straight from the old west. Dual scars ran up from his jaws into his cheeks, unlike the rest of us, and he still had both his eyes. Not only that, but his partner was a short, bespectacled man wearing an oversized cloak. Tochiro. The two were muttering to each other while the cowboy sipped something from a flask. He appeared wholly unimpressed by the matter at hand, unlike the more animated Tochiro.

The groups with men that looked more like me were still strangely varied by their partners, but they all wore black pants. Of course, there was the one who had a very similar but much angrier Daiba, but there was another who had a young man who looked to be in his early twenties at his side. The boy's hair was a fluffy brown, and his jacket was a bright orange. His doppelganger partner was thinner than me, more hints of emotion in his face. He was the only one of us who appeared to have blue eyes instead of brown.

The next one's jaw was squarer, his build holding more muscle, but the boy at his side was the smallest of all. He looked a couple of years younger than Daiba at least, and he stuck close to his partner's side.

The last one of us stuck out easily due to his height, taller than any of us. His uniform was accented by metal pieces of armor, and the young man who must have been his partner stood slightly away from him. Like the younger me in blue and his partner, these two didn't seem as interested in each other as everyone else.

"Captain," Daiba muttered as he reached my side. He looked like he needed to sit down, his eyes wide with confusion. "Are we dead or dreaming?"

I placed a hand to his shoulder to steady him. "Honestly, I don't think we're doing either at the moment." The world around us felt too real to come from a dream. The wind brought my hair to brush against my face, and the dirt shifted beneath the weight of my boots. Death didn't seem like a reasonable option.

"Alright, are you all settled?" the thing still sitting above us called. "Afraid I got you a little mixed up when I pulled you in. You all look so similar, you know. But I'm tired of waiting. I need to get on to explaining the rules of the game."

I was going to speak up against it. I think all of us were, but the first one to speak was the man with the commander's cap. "I'd much prefer if you'd start by introducing yourself." His voice was deep but young, though he looked my age.

The creature's white eyes flashed with a sudden upset, but it quickly returned to its more excited demeanor. "I don't have a name. I never needed one. I am a god, as you would call it. I control the splitting threads caused by the infinite number of choices and decisions made. It took me ages to pick out all of you, so I hope you'll keep me entertained."

"So you're saying we're all from different universes then?" I questioned. "But we're all the same person?"

"Not all of you," it shrugged. "Just the ones that look like it. Except for that one I pulled for the fun of it-" The creature pointed toward the cowboy, "-you're all Phantom F. Harlock. And those three are all Tadashi Daiba in some form." My Daiba along with the one I'd talked to earlier and strangely enough the one in the orange jacket were all pointed at. "I wanted to keep your partners varied, but he's always so different that it fits well. You're all very lucky, you know," it grinned. "Being chosen out of all those infinite possibilities."

"You know we don't exist to be your entertainment," my double with the youngest boy said. "I'm not sure what you have planned, but we'll take no part in it."

We all voiced a chorus of agreement, and the creature's smile cracked like a porcelain mask. "You will," it said, its voice ice. The air grew cold, and the blue sky was overtaken by deeply gray clouds. The flowers under our feet withered until there was nothing but dry, crunching grass. "You will play, or everything you know will be wiped out, so I suggest you listen to the rules if you hope to get out of this with both your lives and the lives of all of those you care about intact."

As it spoke, most of the younger men looked up and listened intently with wide eyes, while the rest of us studied each other. I was curious about them. It seemed only natural to be. I wondered how we were different and the same. I wondered about how their lives had played out to make their expressions darker or lighter than my own. I wondered about the cowboy's Tochiro and if any of the others had one, but I also listened. I didn't like what I heard.

"This game is very simple. Your goal is to be the last one alive – or last ones if you can keep your partner alive as well, though that isn't very important. So the other side of that coin of course, is to kill everyone else. To start out, I will place all sixteen of you across the game board I designed, which consists of four areas. You'll learn about them while you're playing. Across the board are traps and extra weapons you can use, but none of the traps are set. That is for you to do. From the beginning, you will have a weapon of your choice. Your ammo will not run out if you chose a weapon of that nature. If you win and your partner is dead, I will bring them back for you, and you will be returned to your home just as you were." Its smile returned, but the sun did not. "If you both die, then I may still bring one of you back, but you will remain here with me to keep me company for as long as I see fit, and I will destroy your universe for good."

By the end, we'd all turned to stare at it. No one was pleased.

"We won't fight," I said. "We won't give you what you want."

"If you want a proper fight, we'll take you on," the young one in blue said. "But I won't turn on them when we're all fighting for a just cause."

"I don't know what's going on, but I sure don't feel like going up against all these guys," Tochiro squawked. The cowboy remained silent.

"I've been up against gods before," the one with blue eyes smirked. "It looks like you're all selfish cowards then."

I expected more anger from the creature, but it laughed instead, bringing a rolling thunder from the clouds above. "You all have so much faith in yourselves, but how well do you really know each other? How far would you be willing to go to save someone? Now understand that the other you might be thinking the same answer, or he might not. You're all the same person, but you're vastly different, and your partners aren't just here to look cute."

I heard a few cries of offense from the younger ones, including Daiba beside me.

"And you know," it purred, "there's already one among you seeking out your weaknesses and plotting the best ways he could take each of you down. Don't be so trusting. Kill your doubles before they kill you." Its eyes seemed to be focused on each of us and yet nothing all at once. It brought up its hand again.

"This is all going a little fast, don't you think?" the young man next to the tallest one of us said, the first of his pair to speak. "I think we need a little time to think all this over before we get started."

"You've already proven that you won't listen to me, and if you feel like talking, you can do it on the game board," it shrugged. "I don't feel like wasting any more time. Let's get onto the show. Now choose your weapon wisely, boys, and good luck."

With a snap of its fingers, I was alone again, this time in an endless darkness. I could see myself just fine, but there were no lights. My dragoon appeared a few feet in front of me, my saber to my left. A few more guns and swords also showed, larger and smaller. Almost every weapon I could imagine was laid out in front of me, but the most respectable one I felt I could use against my doubles I snatched from the ground before sliding back in its holster. My saber could still kill just as well as any other gun, and I hoped I wouldn't have to use it.

I didn't want to fight any of them. I didn't want to do any of this at all, but I was certain we all felt the same way. What I couldn't be certain was whether or not the others were willing to carry out the game to its conclusion. For me, killing one of them would be a last resort, but I knew Daiba would be more trigger happy.

A world grew around me. First, a blazing blue sky appeared. Then my feet sank into a soft sea of sand that rose and fell in wave after endless wave. I guessed this was my area – a desert. If there were only four, I assumed other people were in the area with me, but I couldn't see any. My best chance was to start walking to get out of the heat.

Feeling a light pressure against my wrist, I raised it to find a leather strap, covered in marble-like half-spheres all the way around. A quick count put the number at sixteen of the gems, and every two had a different shape stamped on it in black. There were circles, stars, squares, and a few others. I had a feeling they represented all of us, but I wasn't sure why.

This so-called god acted more like a child than anything if it thought this was a game. Perhaps it was like chess in a way, but we were all pawns. We were nothing more than sacrifices for the game's end unless we played with a less offensive strategy.

There was no means to count time in this fake world. The sun set and rose faster than it should have, so I could only guess. But it was certainly a good number of hours later that I spotted the line of trees in the distance. It looked like heaven to me, after all the sweat that had collected over my entire body from the blistering heat of the desert. Then I heard a crack, followed by the clear sound of one of the gems shattering. I held up my wrist to see one of the spheres – one with a circle stamp – had become nothing but shards lying on the sand.

My stomach sank as I understood the meaning of the bracelet, and the meaning of the sudden loss it was showing me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tend to use OC villains often, but this one won't be around so much. They're mostly just for plot convenience, haha.


	2. Fire and Ice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can just imagine the people who check FF saying "Oh no, she's posting here now too."  
> Yes, now there is no escape.

My best guess was that I'd somehow eaten some sort of weird plant and was now hallucinating the strangest nonsense my mind could manage. There was no chance this mess was real. All those weird alternate versions of me had looked so unfazed by the whole thing, while I was stuck looking like the butt of a joke because I clearly didn't fit in. I'd managed to keep a straight face through the entire meeting, but I was completely lost and confused by everything. This whole fighting to the death thing couldn't have been real. There was no way, and I was obviously hallucinating.

All those men who looked like me - Phantom that monster had called them. Most of them had kids at their sides, and I would not stoop to the level of killing a child. That was why it couldn't be real. I would wake up, and we'd be back on the wagon with Tochiro snoring up a storm and that no-good woman off doing something to get us in trouble.

I only wished it didn't feel so real.

The odd studded strap around my wrist felt so heavy that I swore I was leaning slightly to one side. It didn't make sense for something so small, but no matter how hard I'd torn at it with my teeth, the thing wouldn't come off.

Around me, the air swirled and bit at my exposed skin, a thick layer of snow crunching beneath my boots with each step. Damn, I hated the cold. I had to hold my hand against the top of my hat to keep it from blowing away as I trudged on. My entire outfit quickly soaked through with melted frost, and my leather gloves resisted each tug of movement as my fingers ached from the cold. At the rate things were going, I swore the environment would kill me before a person did.

The flurries of snow ensured my field of vision was nothing but white. All I could do was keep going forward blindly in hopes that I could find a shelter of some sort. That monster had said something about different areas. I hoped that meant different climates, since the snow eventually did let up to drift lightly enough that I could follow the path of a flake with my eyes. But it didn't feel any warmer. I could only grit my teeth and keep heading forward.

The only upside to the blanket of white was how any other color stood out so easily. Then again, if there was one color that was going to stand out anywhere, it was that orange that my eyes immediately darted to once I'd reached the top of yet another hill that had felt like a mountain.

It was one of the kids, the one with the orange jacket and blue jeans. He was a few dozen paces to my left, his hands jammed into pockets in the coat as he forced himself on through the snow that consumed his entire foot with each step.

I wasn't going to shoot him, even if the thought did cross my mind. If I was a heartless bastard I might have, though my gun had a chance of jamming from the cold. He was headed the same direction as me, and I could only wonder if he would shoot at me the moment he noticed I was there. If not, he would at least make for some company while we looked for somewhere to bunker down.

I figured it was worth a shot. I'd spent my whole time going forward, and I sure didn't feel like changing directions then. Besides, I had the higher ground. "Hey!" I yelled, trying to keep my voice from being carried away in the wind.

You would have thought I'd shot at him as he spun on a dime, his hand immediately on his gun. The only thing that kept him from drawing was when I raised my hands up to prove I had nothing in them. Even so, I could have easily snatched my gun from its holster and shot him a few times before he could even draw. His movements were just that untrained and sluggish.

For a breath of time, we stared at each other, waiting for an offensive move to send us into a firefight. The hollow wind whipped at his overgrown brunet hair so that it brushed every inch of his paled skin. He was Japanese, like Tochiro and quite a few of the other young companions had been. It almost seemed wrong to kill him simply for that reason. "Yeah?" he yelled back, his hand still resting on his gun.

"Just wanted to let you know I was here. Not gonna shoot you or nothing."

He squinted at my words, looking at me like he thought I was as stupid as I was suspicious. "Well, I won't shoot you if you don't shoot me," he answered at length. He was smart to not trust me, but it was impeding progress.

"Would you mind if I walked with you?" He started to cut me off with an uneasy refusal, but I continued over him. "If I walk ahead, I won't be able to see you, and if I walk behind, you won't be able to see me."

He bit his tongue, his hardened expression giving way to his exhaustion and uncertainty. "You swear you won't try to hurt me?"

"I swear on my life," I said, taking off my hat to place over my heart. His hand left his gun as he nodded in a slow acceptance, and I slipped my way down the icy slope toward him. When I was right in front of him, it was even easier to see how tired he was, and it was no wonder - he was short. He must have been at least a head shorter than me, so trudging through the snow was probably even more of a challenge. It was a good thing he had that jacket closed up around him, because his frame was so thin. Oddly, he looked up to me with a slight smile.

"That thing said you were different from the captain, but you still look a lot like him. Funny to see his face with both eyes though." His voice was small, young, but now that I was closer, I wondered if he was older than I'd first guessed. "Well, I was just trying to make it to the next area - get out of this damn cold."

I nodded. "You really think the landscape will change so quickly?"

"It's worth a try, and I've seen stranger things," he laughed softly. "Like you, cowboy."

I stayed directly at his side as he turned to continue walking. I didn't need to freak him out by getting behind him in any way. "My name is Harlock," I corrected. "I'm no cowboy."

"Sure-sure," he snorted. "My name's Tadashi Daiba."

"So you are Japanese then?"

He glanced up at me with a curious frown. "I am, but not really full blood. What's it to you?"

"Nothing really." I scratched at the back of my neck, my eyes forward as I searched for some color other than white or the brown of his distrusting eyes. "I just don't really see many of you other than Tochiro."

He hummed in thought, his hands jammed in his pockets and his brows knit as I looked back to him. The pace of his feet dragging through the snow forced me to slow to keep from getting ahead of him, but he was clearly doing his best to not trip up. Still, I had to grab his arm to keep him from falling on his face. He muttered a quick thanks before pretending it hadn't happened. "So your friend was Tochiro then?" he asked. "My captain has one too – a Tochiro friend. That is weird to say."

It was weird. It was so weird I could only give up with trying to understand it all. "So he's in all these different lives too?" I reasoned. "There's a me in every one, and there's a Tochiro, so maybe there's a you back in my home too."

"Maybe."

Maybe he'd been at Samurai Creek, and maybe he was still out there – one of the people Tochiro was looking for.

Or maybe he wasn't, and how would it even matter? If the game was real and Tochiro and I did get out by some miracle, this kid had to die. And if he died in the game, it seemed like he had to be dead in our world too. I couldn't be sure that was true, but it just felt that way.

Lost in my thoughts, I had dragged us into silence. He'd begun to stare at the gray sky, breathing slowly to watch every puff of his warmth leaving him. When I looked closer, it was clear that he was shivering, but I had nothing I could give him to help combat it, and I was in the same boat.

"What's it like in your world?" he asked suddenly. "Is it really like those weird old movies about the west?"

"Is it what?" I blinked. "I sure don't know, but it's not like this. Mostly hot and dry, and people generally aren't as respectful as you. More of a shoot first type of place. There's never enough to eat or drink, and all the women are more pain than they're worth."

He laughed softly from his chest. "But does everyone ride horses? Showdowns at noon and all that?"

"Uh, well people ride trains and in carriages or wagons too. What's your world like?"

"It's kind of like this one. The things calling themselves gods have decided we're not important. But the captain and everyone else on the Arcadia are going to fix it, so there's nothing to worry about." He smiled at the sky, but fear was swimming in his eyes.

"We're going to get out of here, Tadashi," I said. "We're all going to meet up and work this out, and we'll all get out."

It took him a moment, but he nodded. "You sound like my captain too – always so sure of himself."

Honestly, I wasn't sure of anything, but it sounded nice to say aloud. "And then we can all go for drinks," I grinned.

He probably rolled his eyes, but I was too busy squinting ahead of us to look at his reaction. Maybe I'd really lost it this time, but I swore the white vanished after a certain point. It even looked like it gave way to green, and that must have been the most beautiful sight I'd ever seen.

"Look!" I yelled, running a few paces ahead to try and see better. "I think we made it!"

Hope and relief flooded his exhausted voice. "Really?"

I couldn't help but continue on in a rush forward, just a few more paces ahead. He would catch up. And there it was, whatever weird divide there was between these regions. We had finally found it. We were finally done freezing our asses off.

"God, look out there." I pointed to it like some sort of excited little kid. "Green. How does it get green so fast? You can see that too, right? I'm not just going crazy?"

When I turned around, he was face down in the snow. The wind whipped at his hair, but no part of him moved otherwise. My head swarmed with attempts at an explanation as I raced back, my lungs acing against the icy air. He was tired, so tired that he couldn't make it the rest of the way, or he'd gotten sick somehow. There was some simple cause with a simple solution, and he would be fine.

Because if one of us died, then the game was real.

If one of us died, we all would.

I dropped to my knees beside him, the snow quickly sinking through my pants as I rolled him over toward me. His eyes had been closed, but they opened to reveal that same fear. This time it wasn't hidden by a smile. He was just scared.

With my hand on one shoulder I could feel how horrible his shiver had become, tearing through his entire body despite the sweat on his color-drained face. It looked like he was trying to catch his breath with each pained, whistling wheeze that made his body only shake more. The cold air was probably so thin that it was hard to get enough. He needed to be in the green.

"I'm going to carry you, alright." I decided. He wasn't getting a choice on the matter.

I yanked him by the shoulder to sit him up straight, but I nearly dropped him back at the sudden agonized scream that left him. His eye went wide from pain before shutting tight against it as I held him stable there. I was about to demand to know what was wrong when I noticed his hand clutching at his side.

With a hard tug, I pulled his shirt and jacket up enough to see under them despite his weak cry of protest. It was easy to fight off his hand, trying to keep me from seeing.

I wasn't sure what it was exactly that had eaten through his side. It looked like a concentrated stream of fire had just been shot into him, and the hole was blackened and charred along with lighter burns on the skin around it. Despite the cauterization, blood was seeping through and coating his side in an ugly smear. It had seeped into his shirt, but not his jacket.

He must have had it the whole time.

Which meant I couldn't waste any more time. I scooped him up in my arms, though I would have preferred carrying him on my back. Again, he voiced his pain, but this time only with a whimper.

"Why did you hide that?" I demanded as I set off in as much of a sprint as I could manage.

"Thought you'd pick me off if you saw," he panted, his voice small and raw with pain.

"I wouldn't have hurt you, dammit! How did you even get that? Did you have it when you came here?"

"No-no. It was the first of us- first one I saw." I found his hand balled into a fist in my shirt, his face twisted in pain as I jolted him with every step.

"Goddammit!" So we weren't all reasonable. We weren't all respectful enough to try and sort it out instead of immediately fighting.

Then I had no choice. If I wanted to live, I was going to have to kill someone. At least one. Maybe more. Maybe one of the kids.

I wasn't sure if I had that in me.

"Hang on." It seemed like all I could say as I continued to run. It was all I had the breath to say. "Hang on. Hang on, Tadashi."

When I crossed over into the grass, the world was suddenly warm. There was a blazing sun in the blue sky that hadn't been there before, and trees were lined up in front of us like an army. The warmth seemed to immediately set to work melting my frozen skin, and I dropped to my knees there with a wall of ice and snow at my back, just trying to catch my breath.

"Harlock," Tadashi whispered. I found his eyes halfway open but filled with tears. "That thing, it said- It said it could bring us back, right?"

It felt like all the blood drained from my body, disappearing from my limbs and hollowing my chest and gut. He sounded so scared.

But I couldn't think of what to say. "I don't… It said that, but you'll be alright. Once we get farther in…" Then what? I could tear my jacket into bandages and try to stop the bleeding, but there was nothing I could do for that wound. What kind of sick weapon had made a wound that couldn't be stitched up or treated?

Still, I forced myself to my feet, and I continued carrying him toward the trees. I felt like I could save him if I could just get him farther into this forest. There would be some miracle to save him. Why I needed to, I wasn't completely sure. I didn't know anything about him other than his name, but it seemed like he knew so much about me, because I existed in his world. Maybe he just couldn't exist in mine.

"We'll find your captain," I said, trying to find something to be sure of. "He'll be able to fix this, and you'll be alright."

"You have to tell him. Tell him we have to get the ring," he begged, his quieted voice chopped up by each staggered breath pushing through his lungs. "We have to. I have to fix my mistake. We can't…can't lose the world to gods."

The thought kept hitting me like a hard punch to the gut. He wasn't going to make it. He was going to die here. All I was carrying him to was the end.

I felt myself speaking, but I couldn't control the escaping words. "I'll make sure that thing brings you back. You're not dying. You'll just be asleep, and then we'll get you right back." It was all nothing but cheap lies.

"I don't want to go," he breathed as tears rolled down his face. I pulled his limp form up closer to lean his cheek against my shoulder, because there was no other comfort I could offer. I suddenly remembered that I didn't know his age. I almost asked.

I almost asked him a dozen questions about himself or his world, but I didn't open my mouth. I just listened to the rattle of his breath as he fought to say something. Only when I leaned my ear closer did I catch the fragment of a whispered message.

"Don't trust..."

He didn't make it to the tree line. His eyes were still partially open, but he was no longer seeing. I laid him down at the base of the closest tree, wiping the tears from his face before I closed his eyes for him.

For the first time, I felt like one of the other men would show up behind me just to shoot me in the back. This entire game was a death trap, and I wanted no part in dying. I couldn't die, because I had to find that god. I had to get this boy back. No matter what it took or who I had to kill, this boy had to live, because I had told him as much.

"Sorry, but I'm going to have to borrow this," I said as I unhooked his gun holster to fashion it around my waist beside my own. His gun was strange, with no clear place to put ammunition, and I could only assume it was like the ones all of my enemies had. It would be my last resort for if my own gun failed me.

I didn't feel safe staying in one place any longer, so I offered him a quiet goodbye before I stood and continued on into the forest. The strap around my wrist was feeling lighter, but still heavy. One marble had broken at some point. I hadn't noticed when, and really, it didn't matter. There were still fifteen left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't get me wrong, I really like Saga Daiba, but I like him dead too.


	3. A Late Walk

The forest seemed to be a square. Maybe it wasn't an exact square, but the sides appeared about even – maybe a half-dozen miles across, give or take. If I pretended the Sun was acting like the Earth's, though faster, then to the north and south was a desert, and to the east and west was snowy tundra. I had a feeling these were just the same areas on a loop, considering every corner of the square met together with three other squares: the tundra, the desert, and a what appeared to be jungle diagonally across. That was all my endless hours of searching had found me. No people or objects or exits – just the map I had eventually sketched into the dirt at my feet. A map that looped forever.

Now I was at a standstill, because it felt like my best option was to wait. The lake in the center of the forest held pristine, perfect water, reflecting the crescent moon now hanging in the sky. It was an ideal place to draw in others. That way we could discuss a plan, and no one… Well, no one  _else_  would have to die, if that was really what the wristband was indicating

I sat on a smoothed gray rock near the water's edge, watching it lazily lap at the dirt and wondering if someone might try to sneak up on me and shoot me while I was so clearly out in the open. They probably wouldn't be able to with all the twigs and dead leaves scattering the forest floor, but they could always try.

Holding my wrist up to the moonlight, I twisted it and watched the transparent gems sparkle in a rainbow of hidden colors. Selfishly, I hoped the circle-stamped gems didn't represent us. Tadashi was small. He could fight and hold his own, but he was young and I could only guess the amount of training all the older boys had. And if he ran into a version of me that was selfish enough to hurt him… It took a great deal of work not to think on the idea, as my mind continuously fell back to it.

My head snapped to the side just as a rustling began in the brush nearby. At least I was finally getting to see someone. Logically, I thought we all would have filtered into the forest as the most comfortable region, which was probably what that creature had been planning. But the only sign of any person I'd seen were small footprints in the soft ground of the lake shore. Not Tadashi's, but definitely one of the boys'. They'd disappeared after I'd followed them for a time, so I couldn't be too sure.

Whoever this was, he wasn't trying to hide his approach. His footsteps crashed through the browned leaves, and I wasn't surprised to see a familiar skull and crossbones on his chest, shining in the moonlight as he came into view. It was one of my doubles, the one with the gray pants. Honestly, there wasn't any other way to tell us apart. When he saw me, he paused a moment, probably waiting to see if I was going to shoot, since I was sitting there wondering the same thing.

But he didn't, and neither did I, so he continued toward me. His expression was difficult to see in the deep blue hues of moonlit night, but when he was close enough, I found him with a calm, unreadable expression that I imagined matched my own. "Have you been here the whole time?" he asked as he neared. "Or were you in a different area?"

"I started here, but I looked around the whole thing."

"I was in the desert. Didn't bother looking around more than I had to, but there wasn't much to see." There was a touch of irritation to his voice, and I couldn't help but smile as he tossed his cape over near me, yanked off his boots, rolled up his pant legs and waded into the water. His gloves came off too with quick tugs, thrown to land on top of his cape. "Run into anyone else?"

"No, but I was hoping they'd all come here."

He nodded, staring down into the water as though he could pull answers from it. "Makes sense. So you don't know who died then?"

"No." He must have reasoned that out from the band too. Either that or he'd been the one to kill them, but I doubted that.

Again, he nodded. "I'm not sure if I want to know, but I would like to know who killed them." He turned to look back at me, his brow furrowed. "I trust my crewman to know when it is and isn't okay to kill, but a situation like this is different."

"Very different," I sighed. "I don't know that Tadashi would ever shoot anyone here unless they attack first, but that does make him an easy target." The way we talked about everything felt almost like any ordinary conversation. I knew it was wrong, but I couldn't think of how else to speak with him. It was strange enough to be speaking with him at all. My mind wandered to the idea that his crewman could have been the killer, and mine could have been the victim.

What then? I would feel angry, of course, but taking revenge by killing his crewman might in-turn lead him to fight me. And that was just what the monster wanted. It wanted a bloodbath fueled by fear and hatred and revenge.

"So you have a Daiba as well?" he asked, still just a simple conversation despite the absolute madness surrounding us.

"No, it's Tadashi Monono – the little brunet."

I found a moment's sympathy in his eye, and I was certain it was because Tadashi was the absolute youngest among us. "How can I say I hope they're both alright?" he murmured. "Because that would mean hoping someone else is dead."

The polite conversation fell away as I nodded. "I think we should just gather everyone and work out a solution. Banding together will ruin the whole game. It's our only chance as far as I can see, but we have to make sure everyone keeps a cool head, no matter what happened in the past."

"No matter what it takes, I will not kill anyone else," he said mostly to himself, his eye locked into the trees.

I followed his gaze. "I promise the same," I responded, though he may not have been listening as both our attentions were turned to a much louder, more hurried crashing nearing us.

I hoped to see one of the younger boys, and in a way, I got what I hoped for. "Oh, hey!" he greeted with a slight wave as he hit the edge of the tree line. It was the young version of us with the flashy white pants and odd black shirt. His eyes were bright with interest, though his face didn't show it otherwise. "What's going on?"

"We were just discussing a plan to bring everyone together," I called while he struggled to free his foot from where it had tangled in some roots. "Have you seen anyone?"

Even though he was yards away, it was easy to see his face screw up against the question. Once his foot was loose, he continued toward us, his pace slowed "I saw another one of us, but he was in a pretty piss-poor mood, so I just got away from him pretty quick. Thought he was gonna shoot me."

"Which one of us?" the man next to me asked. Looking between them, I realized we would need some sort of name system to tell each other apart.

"I'm not sure. One that looked like you two. He started yelling at me as soon as he saw me, asking if I killed whoever had died. Maybe you can try to approach him later, but he seemed a little crazy."

Well that was discouraging, but surely we could reason with him. I thought for a moment, wondering if they would mind taking orders from me. "Alright, we'll wait on asking him, but we need to spread out and look for anyone else who might come through here. The lake can be our base. I think there might also be some people in the jungle area, but I doubt anyone will stay-"

There was that split second where we all felt confused. The sound was so foreign in the middle of a calm, natural setting. But I watched the younger one of us cringe, not wanting to look down. I looked to the other me to see him holding up the bracelet as though he was checking the time on a watch. His eye was heavy with disappointment. It felt like we were at a standstill, and that silvery sound of the gem shattering still rang in my ears.

"Which shape?" I felt myself ask, as if it would make some difference.

"Star," he said. I could only guess at who that was. The dread in my stomach assured me it had to be Tadashi, because I couldn't help but think the worst.

When the younger one of us spoke, his throat sounded dry. "You two haven't seen a scrawny kid, have you? He's real loud, so it's hard to miss him." He was trying to smile, but it wasn't working.

"No, I'm sorry." I really was. I understood. "You're the first one we've seen,"

When that thing brought us along with a partner, it really had known what it was doing. If it had just been the eight of us, I wasn't sure there would have been much bloodshed, if any at all. But the boys we'd drug along were impulsive, and I wasn't even sure what to think of the older ones. My Tochiro wouldn't have harmed any of them, but I couldn't be sure about the one with the cowboy. I didn't know anything about the other two, who weren't even remotely recognizable. The one that worried me the most was the lone man whose insignia was not a skull and crossbones.

"I like to think that whoever is doing this is doing it out of fear," the elder double said. "So when we're all together, we may be able to calm them down."

I'd been hoping the same thing, but there was no guarantee. "That idea fits if it's one of the boys. If it's one of us, I doubt that's the case. We can't even be sure these acts weren't done by two completely different people. It could even be a pair that has decided to try to win."

The young one's slow pace had finally reached my side, and he plopped down next to me on the rock, frowning out across the lake. "But we have to keep at it. We have to try uniting everyone. If we're not fighting, that thing doesn't have the show it wants, and we may be able to draw it out and talk to it again."

"At the very least, we have to try," I nodded in agreement.

"You're right. Let's set up base here." The elder said as he leaned down to clean his hands in the water. The reflected moon wobbled from the sudden waves "We can search here and the jungle for three passes of the Sun, since I'd estimate that's around five hours. After that time is up, we'll return here with everyone we've found and check everyone over." He straightened his back, his expression calm, though his eye was dark. "I have a talent for catching liars, so we'll just see if we can find out who is responsible so we can keep an eye on them."

I pulled off my cape and dropped it on top of his as I stood. It would only get in the way in the tree-dense areas. "Sounds fair. We can keep doing cycles with that plan until we have everyone. And just so I don't get confused, we should probably all go by different names other than Harlock for when we're all in a group."

"As long as we don't have to go by embarrassing nicknames," the youngest grumbled.

"What if he's A," I pointed toward the man in the lake, "I'm B," I cocked a thumb at myself, "and you're C." I pointed at the last of us, who didn't appear thrilled with his rank.

"I guess it'll work," he shrugged. "But what happens if one of them attacks us?"

"Do your best to knock them out," A said. "Killing is your absolute last resort. If you have to shoot, go for the legs."

"There's a chance some of them may not trust us," I realized. "I can't help much with anyone else, but if you run into my cook – the short brunet in green – tell him I sent you, and we still need to get to Arcadia." Admittedly, the code sounded a bit silly, but I had to trust that these men would keep him safe, and so would he.

With a slight smile, A picked up on my plan. "And if you see mine – the blond – tell him he still has more Mazone to go after."

"You can just tell mine to shut up and listen," C said, smirking. "He'll probably manage to call everyone else to you with how loud he always is."

"The time will begin once the sun rises," A said. "I'll look in this area since I just got here if you two want to take the jungle."

I nodded. I'd spent far too much time here already, but it hadn't been a waste. As long as we had a goal we could work toward together, we had a chance to overcome this. The alternate versions of me were all good men so far, so there was still hope for us to win and maybe even bring back the ones we'd lost.

I'd worked too damn hard on protecting my home and friends to let anything else take them from me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Harlock talking to himself is kind of like watching paint dry, isn't it? This is why he has lots of cute friends, so he doesn't bore up the place.


	4. Acquainted with the Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spoilers for the new movie. Also some gore, but I don't think it's too graphic.

The so-called god must not have paid attention when choosing the pawns of its game. At least, I saw no sense in choosing me. Threatening me with the destruction of my world lacked sense when that was already my goal. Even though it would erase the need for years of hard work, losing this game would provide me with far more of a reward than winning.

Though I couldn't confirm much about the other groups, they all seemed to be in better shape than me in one aspect or another. I could only hope that Yama was not the one causing the gems to shatter across my wrist. Any of the others could win. I did not care which, as long as it was not us.

The only problem with that was that I had to die first. Not so much a problem as a barrier. Death had always seemed out of my reach, though perhaps I could be killed by myself, one of those from a better world.

I'd yet to run into another person. The desert I'd started out in had offered me no clues as to where anyone else might be, but the jungle I'd eventually found was slightly more helpful. There were occasional tracks in the mud of varying sizes, which I hoped to follow toward someone either willing to talk or take my life. I couldn't be too sure what the others were planning, but I followed the larger footprints in hopes of finding out. No matter what, I would not draw my weapon against them. If they decided to draw theirs, it would be of no consequence. Sooner or later, I would lose the game.

If that happened sooner, I hoped one of my alternates would take out Yama to prevent me from coming back, but if I found Yama first… Hopefully he could be reasoned with.

The jungle was a tangle of limited visibility. The trees and dense canopy formed a wall that prevented any hopes of scanning for others. Sound would be more useful, as my own footsteps sloshed through each patch of mud and rattled every bushel of leaves I passed. But other than my own progress, I heard only the wind through the trees. Perhaps the others had left this area already for a more comfortable one. While it was certainly better than the overwhelming heat of the desert, the heavy humidity of the jungle made each breath feel weighted. The endless trees made for an infinite number of blind spots, especially with so much of the sun blocked out by the branches above.

Since spotting the footprints, I'd planned on following the larger set, hoping to find one of my alternates. Though the footprints were certainly smaller than my own, the rest were all shorter than me, about Yama's height truly. Even so, it was difficult to gauge who the set belonged to, considering the other men of the groups, but that hardly mattered when it became clear that the smaller set of footprints followed the same path. Someone had been on this trail before me, tracking the other.

It was no matter, whether I found one or two when I caught up. I simply hoped I would not find one dead.

Faster than was reasonable, the shade from the trees grew heavier until it consumed the ground. Even with the arrival of the moon to replace the sun, I was offered far less visibility. Splashes of the white light gave me small hints as to where each dip of a footprint might be, but I was forced on occasion to trace the indents with my hand to be sure.

But how could I mind when the moon was so brilliant and clear through the trees? There was so much green, so much life. It was all fake, certainly, but like any dream of the past, I couldn't help enjoying it. I wondered if the Earths of the other worlds still held the same life that this imitation showed.

Surely they did, because most of my alternates seemed to look younger. It was hard to say how, considering some of us technically looked the same age, but they seemed livelier to my eye, as though they truly were the age they appeared.

And at least in one world, Tochiro was still alive. If nothing else, that was something to give me hope. I didn't need to reset my world. I could simply allow another to thrive.

I was only disappointed not all of them would be allowed to.

The tracks were certainly not fresh, so I had imagined I would have to follow them for some time, but the moon was still hanging brightly above my head when I was allowed my first taste of contact.

"Captain?" The voice was small, shaking. It sounded like a child fearful of reprimand, which was perhaps why they were hiding.

I scanned all sides, though a dense grove of foliage up to my hip covered much of what was in front of me. "Yes?" I answered at length.

I could hear the boy's breath. It shook just like his words and was so labored I could practically feel the quick rise and fall of his chest. "Um…which one are you?"

It was a difficult question to answer, so I decided to simply show him. Stepping forward, I pushed aside the fern that had masked his location. Immediately, I realized I was wrong. He had not been hiding, not on purpose.

The bright shine of his eyes widened as he shrank back from me, pawing for the gun a few feet away as though he could reach it. I recalled the creature that had dropped us here had mentioned leaving traps, but I hadn't realized what it had meant by that.

The bear trap clung to the boy's leg like canine fangs sinking into a piece of meat. Even in the limited grayish light, I could see the deep stain of blood on his pant leg, seeping from the wound. The trap was so deep into his leg it seemed the bone was the only thing keeping the teeth from meeting together.

The boy couldn't run, and he couldn't pull it apart. He could only sit there in agony. This simply would not do.

I dropped down to my knees and whipped off my cape. The material wasn't much for bandages, but it would have to do. I could not allow him to bleed out once he was freed.

Using my saber, I cut a strip from it to use as a tourniquet, only to hear a bright yelp of pain. With the strip still clenched between my teeth, I looked up to find him trying to crawl back toward his gun. The dark stain on his leg spread down from the sudden movement. Sweat gleamed on his face, screwed up in pain.

"You shouldn't move," I said, finally understanding. He was afraid I would kill him, understandably so. That was the logical course of action, and I was practically three times his size, while he could hardly stand moving. "I'm not going to harm you."

His eyes shone so brightly in the moonlight that he looked feverish. He merely stared at me, frozen in place with his hand outstretched toward his gun. Despite how his small form shook, he stared me down with a mask of bravery that few of the men who faced me managed. His face was childishly round, brunet hair framing it messily. He was certainly the youngest of the ones who had been dragged into the game, yet he had called me captain. He was a pirate just as any of my crew.

"I swear I won't harm you," I repeated slowly. I held the meager attempt at a bandage out toward him. "I'm going to get you out of there."

He didn't relax, muscles still tensed and shaking, but he slowly nodded. His hand shrank back from his gun.

"I would offer my name, but I assume you know it," I said as I slipped the tourniquet around his leg, just below the knee.

"My name is-" He cringed, eyes sharp with pain. "Tadashi, Tadashi Monono."

Once I had the tie tight enough, I tore more strips to wrap the wound, talking around the fabric in my teeth. "Do you know who set this trap, Monono?"

His brow furrowed. "Wasn't it the god?"

"No. It said it would leave traps available, but they were for us to set. I would imagine it was whomever you were following."

"Oh!" he blinked, round eyes wide. "I didn't know who I was following. I was just going by their footprints. I don't think they were any of the other captains, but I dunno. Should have been watching where I was going, but this was just behind that plant, so I didn't notice." He made a clicking noise as his hands mimed the jaws of the trap shutting. "It doesn't hurt so bad if I'm not moving or looking at it." He laughed weakly, certainly lying.

When I had enough strips, I stood. "This isn't a normal bear trap. They're usually impossible to set without a clamp, but this one was likely set…" I didn't give him a warning, because I wanted it as quick and as painless as possible. With a slight hop, I slammed all my weight down on the springs on the sides, flattening them beneath my feet. The jaw wrenched open along with a scream from the boy like nails against a chalkboard.

Carefully as I could, I pulled his leg away from the trap before allowing it to snap shut once more. "I'm sorry. I know it hurts," I said uselessly. He whimpered as he collapsed to lie back against the dirt. If the pain had been much worse, he surely would have passed out, but that might have been preferable for him.

I set to work as quickly as a could, using sturdy branches as splints for what was possibly a broken bone as I wrapped his leg in what had once been my cape. He didn't speak a word, though his breath would occasionally stutter or hitch against the pain.

"There," I offered once it was finished. "But you won't be able to walk on it."

"Thanks," he sighed. "I owe you." His eyelids were heavy as he stared up at the stars beginning to disappear from the tinge of pink signaling the arrival of the sun. Even without full daylight, I could see how pale he was. He certainly would not make it on his own.

I picked up his gun and handed it to him with a small request. "Would you tell me about your world?"

He frowned in confusion as he took the weapon, as though I was being completely unreasonable. "Well, I dunno. It's… There are these aliens messing things up for all the humans all over. They're horrible. Keep taking over things like the world's theirs to own, but the Captain's stronger than them, so it's alright." A smile twitched on his lips. "He and Mr. Tochiro are going to take us to Arcadia, and then everything will be alright."

It sounded like a bedtime story for a child, but surely this boy was old enough to hear the truth. Perhaps there was a paradise in that world. If Tochiro truly believed in it, it seemed plausible. "What about Earth?" I asked.

He hummed in thought for a moment, clearly fighting off sleep. "Don't know much about Earth. I've never been there. Heard the Illumidas took over."

So then humans were still spread around the universe, living on worlds that couldn't sustain them and searching for a fantastical one that would. But the boy seemed less concerned with the prosperity of humans and more concerned with these aliens. "The other planets humans live on – how would you say they are?"

His eyes were completely closed, but an answer still came. "Depends. Some of them are Goldilocks planets. You know – not too hot, not too cold, pretty close to Earth. Kind of depends on your lot in life. There are some really nice planets with grass and water." His voice softened. "Then there was mine."

Odd. Either he'd been lied to, or the planets in his universe were simply more attuned to the needs of humans. Perhaps he was thinking of the planets the rich lived on, but that still implied there were more habitable planets than in my world. Either way, Earth was still in livable condition if those aliens staying on it were any indication. His world was one worth protecting, so he was worth protecting.

"You can't sleep here," I said. "We need to find somewhere with water, maybe some more medical supplies or at least someone with more medical knowledge than me." All I could do was simple wrap jobs made for the battlefield, and those bandages would need to be changed. There was already a good chance of infection.

His eyelids fluttered open, but he frowned up at me. "Should I…hop?" He'd meant it in all seriousness, and I couldn't help but feel amused.

Once more, I dropped to my knees, this time with my back facing him. "This is the best we can do to keep from agitating your wound." I looked back over my shoulder to see him sitting up, but he would only stare at me. "We should head out since the sun's coming back up."

His eyes darted from my back to the ground to the trees. It seemed he was having an internal debate. I wasn't sure what for exactly. "We'll look for your captain as well," I said. His eyes snapped back to me, and his arms hesitantly reached forward to circle my neck.

"Why are you doing this?" he asked as I picked him up. Even the slight jostle of my arm slipping under his knee was enough to make him cringe again.

I didn't want to answer the question completely. It would have seemed insane, but in a way, it was. "You don't deserve to die in a game like this. Your world deserves to live, and you'll see it through 'til the end."

"What about your world?" he prodded.

"That is only of concern to me. It does not involve your life, and you should not be harmed because of it."

He seemed to accept that, and we started off. I decided to continue following the footprints of the one before us, thankful he did not come back to check on his trap. I didn't want to cross paths with him while my arms were full, but I believed he was still hours ahead. Even if I did encounter him, I felt I would be capable of shooting him down if need be.

Monono heaved a sigh near my ear. "It's weird. You're a lot like my captain, but you're definitely not him."

"How so?"

"Well it's like… It's kinda…" It seemed he had trouble describing it as well. "You don't show as much emotion, I guess. And that's saying something, since my captain usually doesn't show much either. Also, your outfit has a lot of metal, and that's weird." He poked at the armor around my neck, tracing the design. I wasn't sure if I should have been offended by his remarks or not. "Taller too," he muttered.

"How old is your captain?" I asked without meaning to. I was too curious about my alternates for my own good.

"I dunno." Monono shrugged. "Like twenty-something. Doesn't talk about himself much."

The alternate I recalled being with Monono had truly looked younger than me, though not by much. It did seem odd to me that one of his crew didn't know his age. Or perhaps… "Are you a member of his crew?"

"Ah, yeah!" His eyes brightened. He was clearly prideful of his position. "I'm the cook!"

"I see." Quite young for a cook. "What about the ship?"

"The Arcadia?" He tilted his head curiously. "What about it?"

"Well, what sort of engine does it have?"

Monono puffed his cheeks, his brow furrowed. "You ask a lot of questions," he muttered. Thankfully he went on before forcing me to respond. "I don't know. Mr. Tochiro built it, and he makes all kinds of fancy stuff."

I didn't want to risk asking him if it was a dark matter engine, but based on his words, it was not. That was a relief all its own. "So who was the guy with you?" he asked suddenly. "He was, uh, in green, right?"

"His name is Yama," I said. "He's new."

Monono waited for me to continue, but I said no more on the matter. There wasn't much else he needed to hear.

"Okay," he continued at length. "So what should I call you?"

"Harlock," I answered without a second thought.

"Is there something else I can call you?" he frowned.

Of course, he considered Harlock to be his captain, and I was not, but my first name wasn't something I liked to go by. I tried to consider a different option as he ducked his head closer to my shoulder to avoid a low-hanging branch.

Then the thought was gone from my mind.

There was nothing stranger than seeing your own body lying on the ground. His face was in the dirt, a shot through his back. A coward had killed this one.

Monono cried out, his voice cracking in a new sort of agony. "Captain!?" Before I could stop him, he wriggled free and fell back to the ground. "Captain!" he gasped again, rolling over to crawl toward the man.

I wondered how he could tell, or if he really could. There were others that wore the same outfit. "Stay still, or you'll aggravate your wound," I said, reaching down toward him.

He pushed my hand away and grabbed for the dead man's arm instead. "Captain," he sobbed, pushing with all his strength to get the man off his stomach. I strode to his side, ready to remind him of what could happen if he was able to survive. There was no need to mourn the dead if they could be brought back.

But just as he was able to roll the dead man over, his voice caught in his throat. "I-it's not him," he choked. "But why…" Tears rolled down his face, his jaw clenched.

"If it's not him, then he's likely safe," I said. Kneeling down, I looked at the dead man. His eyes were half lidded until I reached out to close them. An odd sentiment for someone who shared my face.

"But why kill him?" Monono begged me for an answer that seemed so obvious.

"So they could live."

Monono's eyes went wild with fury. "That's not an excuse! His saber's not even drawn!"

That was true. Coupled with the fact that they'd shot him from behind, I particularly didn't like whoever our killer was. Perhaps their world was not worth saving.

"I know it's not an excuse," I said, "but it's a reason, and it's probably the one they had." Reaching out, I wiped the tears from Monono's face as they continued to fall. "Why are you crying for him? He's not your captain."

"But he is! I know he's not  _my_  captain, but…he deserves to live. No one deserves to die for this stupid game. You too – you deserve to live."

His eyes felt piercing, so firm in their belief. "You don't know me, Monono. You can't say that for sure."

"But I do know you." His smile wobbled. "You're Harlock."

I didn't think I could convince him otherwise. "Come along, Monono," I said. "We should keep looking." I would have attempted to take the dead man's cape for more bandages, but I was certain Monono would not allow it. He so gently took the man's hands and placed them across his chest before taking my hand to help him onto my back.

"Do you know which one that was?" I asked as we started off once more.

His arms hugged my neck a bit tighter. "He was the quiet one. Never said a word. His partner was that guy in tan." I recalled him then, but the fact that Monono could tell so easily was impressive. He rested his chin against my shoulder, his eyelids heavy once more.

"You can rest for now," I said. "I'll let you know if anything happens."

"Thanks," he murmured. "I owe you."

He didn't need to repay me. He was doing enough by simply being alive, and I would make sure he stayed that way until the very end, no matter what it took.

Living: 14  
Dead: 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was the point when my beta suggested a death count, so now there's that. Also, so we're clear, I call EO Daiba's clothes tan. There was some confusion with that, because no one can come to a general consensus on what color his dumb outfit is.


	5. If

Unless the trees around here sprouted legs, one of the boys managed to climb to a branch eight meters up and was currently making a home of it. Brown boots dangled far above my head. Except for a light sway from the wind, they hadn't moved despite my noisy approach. Surely someone wasn't dead all the way up there.

The sun cast sharp rays through the leaves, stopping me from being able to see more than his feet. With his short legs, he had to be one of the little sidekicks. I gave a whistle, but he offered no response, not even a twitch. I didn't like being ignored.

"Hey!" I yelled, loud enough for my words to bounce between the trees. That grabbed his attention, a yelp of surprise answering me. Apparently he hadn't noticed me at all, because his startled jolt sent him rolling from the branch. I was able to see him now, but it was hard to get a clear picture when he was tumbling down. It didn't look like he'd be able to catch himself.

"Shit," I hissed as I broke into a run. If the ground caught him before I did, a few broken bones would be the best outcome. He smacked back and forth between branches like an abused pinball, screeching curses with every hit.

Luck was on his side this round. Just as I reached the base of the tree, he dropped like a weighted sack into my arms. He wheezed air back into his lungs while I breathed a sigh. Zero would murder me if I got a kid hurt.

Before I could begin to apologize, he'd recovered. "Put me down, you bastard!" He kicked and fought against me. I narrowly avoided a clock to the jaw, so as per request, I dropped him.

He landed on one of the tree's roots, another shriek piercing my ears. "Ow! Who do you think you are!?" His hand shot to a metal bar strapped to his back. When he pulled it free, I realized it was a wrench of all things, half as tall as him. Surely no one in their right mind would have chosen a wrench as a weapon. Then again, this kid may not have been in his right mind.

Wide, ash-brown eyes reflected nothing but hatred toward me, but instead of the wrench bashing into my kneecap, he blinked as though he'd just bothered to look at my face for the first time. "Harlock?" he frowned. "What the hell are you wearing?" The wrench still hovered over his shoulder like he'd forgotten his plan to beat me to death.

"I always wear this," I said. I wasn't sure I liked his tone. "You must have me mixed up with one of the others."

"You choose to wear that?" he asked in sheer disbelief. This kid was really getting on my nerves. In an odd way, he sort of reminded me of Zero. Maybe it had to do with how angry he was with me, but they looked similar in some ways too.

He was a scrawny thing, like he hadn't eaten enough to keep up with his growth spurts. Couldn't have been older than fifteen, which maybe explained the wild tendencies. His hair was a mess of light brown curls and even more cowlicks than Zero's. It was partially reined in by the animal skin cap around his head. Despite the heat of the forest, he looked dressed for winter, and he was acting like I was the weirdly dressed one here?

I crossed my arms, glaring down at him. "What's wrong with what I choose to wear?"

He reached out to tug at the fabric around my leg. "Well it's like a onesie, isn't it?"

"It is not a onesie," I snapped. "My outfit makes more sense than the weird ones my duplicates have."

He rolled his eyes and shrugged but had the decency to finally lower his wrench. "I dunno. At least my Harlock wears pants."

"It's not like I'm not wearing-" I cut myself off with a sigh. This conversation would get us nowhere. "It's not important. Look, you know I'm Harlock, so would you mind giving me your name?"

He stood, rubbing his sore butt and muttering about how unlucky he was. Conflict flashed behind his eyes before he gave in with a huff. "I sure don't owe you anything, but I'm Nazca. Don't forget it." His glare wasn't exactly frightening considering he only reached my chest while standing.

"Right, Nazca, so you're not going to try to kill me?"

"If I wanted to kill you, you'd already be dead," he snarled. Tough talk for someone with a wrench. "I was trying to avoid this whole mess. I don't like killing people, so I was taking a nap, and then you showed up and nearly got me killed."

Taking a nap in a tree was asking for trouble, but I decided not to argue. He didn't seem like the type who was willing to lose any argument. "Sorry about making you fall out of the tree and all," I said, "but a good shot would have taken you out anyway. You're lucky I found you and not someone who felt like playing this game."

"I'm never lucky," he snapped like a stubborn child.

"Okay, whatever." I couldn't believe some other version of me had the patience to deal with this kid. "Look, I've been trying to find the others so we can group up. You were at a good vantage point. Have you seen anyone?"

Every new emotion from him came at the flip of a switch, but no matter what he threw at me, I'd decided to stand calmly and deal with it. "Why should I tell you about any of what I saw?" he demanded. "How do I know you're not trying to kill people? Why should I trust you?"

It was a tough question to answer. I shrugged. "Well, I haven't killed you yet."

His eyes narrowed. "But you're using me for information, and then you'll kill me."

"I'm not going to kill you, Nazca," I sighed. "Do you trust your version of me? We're the same person."

"Hell no! He's an asshole."

It was like trying to talk to a rock. "Okay, but has he ever tried to kill you?"

Finally, he paused to consider the idea, still eyeing me like I was about to attack at any moment. "I guess not. Fine! I saw a couple of you, but none of them were the right one, so I decided to nap."

I guessed the "right one" was his version of me, but I was just glad to know other people were around. The most I'd found back in the frozen wasteland I'd left was a splatter of blood. I was only able to follow one set of tracks leading from it for so long before the snow covered them.

If other versions of me were in this area, it was possible Zero was too. I could imagine him having a ball arresting all my doubles. Surely I'd run across him eventually. Our luck always smacked the two of us together, but in the meantime, I had to deal with the smaller version of him.

"So since you ruined my hiding place," Nazca snapped, "I need to go find another one. You have fun with your looking for people and whatever." He waved me away as he started off the direction I'd come.

"You may not want to go that way," I said. "There's nothing but ice past the edge of the forest."

The dirt ground under his heel as he pivoted. He stared at me like I'd lost my mind. "Eh?"

"That thing said there were four sections, right? Besides this one, I saw a section filled with snow and one that looked like the jungles back on Earth. The tree line ends not too far that way."

"Oh, that's what that was." His wrench moved up again, this time to scratch at his head. "I could see a big gray wall between the trees, but I thought it was just cloudy over there or something." Like an extension of his hand, he waved the wrench lazily in my direction. It appeared to weigh nothing to him. "There's a big lake that way. I saw one of you there earlier."

"Think he's still there?" The more people I met, the more I knew who to trust. If we all allied together, that weird monster thing wouldn't be able to continue the game.

Nazca shrugged and started back toward the lake. "Probably left ages ago. That was at night."

"Night was just a couple hours ago." But he was likely right. It all felt like a big game of chasing rabbit trails. We were just going in circles trying to find each other. As Nazca passed me, I turned to follow after him.

When he noticed my steps behind his, he looked back over his shoulder with a pout. "How am I supposed to hide if you're following me?"

I shrugged. That wasn't my problem. "I've been alone this whole time, and it's been really boring. At the very least, sticking with you won't be as dull as that."

Despite his clear irritation, he slowed his steps to reach my side. "I don't like having you at my back, so stick here if you aren't going to leave me alone."

"I don't shoot people in the back, but sure. It's no problem." I preferred walking at his side anyway.

His wrench bounced at his shoulder as he walked, kicking at twigs that stood in his way. "Ugh, you are just like the captain," he grumbled.

Obviously. We were the same person and about the same age if I remembered right. "Your version of me? The one with the dumb white pants?"

"They are dumb," Nazca snorted.

"He isn't your captain, is he?" I asked. I couldn't imagine why else the kid would stick around me in any universe, but keeping someone like him on the ship was ridiculous.

"Kind of. I live on the Deathshadow." A fist-sized rock stood in his path, so he swung the wrench down like a golf club to send it flying. He grinned at his accomplishment, and I couldn't help but smile. He was just an average kid in his own right.

"What are you doing on the Deathshadow?" I asked.

"Eh? You ask too many questions. Maybe I'm a stowaway." He smirked. "Maybe I'm the captain."

That contradicted too much with his previous statements to make any sense. "I'm sure you're a great captain," I drawled.

I must have hit a weak spot, because his wrench appeared in my face so fast I had to stop short. "Well I am getting my own ship, so I will be a captain. Mr. Tochiro and I are building it."

"I'm not surprised. He would do something like that." But if Tochiro tried to build a ship for a kid in my world, I wouldn't let him get away with it so easily.

With his pride damaged, Nazca stalked a few paces ahead, still tormenting any rocks in his way. "I wasn't that much older than you when I was captain for the first time," I offered. "I guess as long as Tochiro's looking out for you, you'll be fine. Still saves my ass on a regular basis, but don't let him know I said that."

As I strode back to his side, I could see hints of a smile he was trying to hold back. "You are just like my captain," he muttered. He paused to smack another rock with his wrench, but the skittering of it rolling across the ground was first punctuated by a metallic clang.

Then a beep.

There was only time to react on instinct. I grabbed Nazca's arm and yanked him to me. We needed to both be behind cover, but I could only hope the trees would save us. I didn't have time to hit the ground. The earth-shattering blast sent us there for me.

The world went white, quiet in a deafening way. I thought I was dead until my ears started ringing. A thought rolled though my head, an odd silver lining – at least we hadn't stepped on that thing. And maybe we had everyone's attention now. Help would arrive soon.

Help or whoever had planted that explosive.

My mouth tasted like grit and blood. All across my left side, fresh scratches stung from dirt invading them. Everything hurt. Nazca's hand pressed into my chest to roll my weight off of him. "Damn," he whispered, his voice trembling. "How unlucky."

It almost made me laugh, but I choked instead. After hacking up a few lungfuls of ash and dirt, I forced my shaken bones to push me up. "Oh!" I heard Nazca squeak. "Uh, let me- hang on I'll…uh…"

A ring of cloth was pulled down over my eyes. I pressed at it curiously until I realized it was his odd headband. "What…?" I croaked out.

"Don't worry," Nazca said as he patted my shoulder. "I'm sure we can get that fixed."

My mind cleared as the dust settled. "My eyes?" I questioned.

"Yeah." He sounded unsure of himself for the first time. "But it's not so bad."

I wasn't sure whether they were open or closed. They stung, but everything did. It was best not to worry about for now. "Are you alright?" I asked.

"I'm fine," he sighed.

"You're sure? Not lying to me, are you?" I didn't need him trying to be tough with a bad gash or broken bone.

"I'm fine! Don't have to worry about me." He paused, his voice softening. "Sorry about…"

"It's not your fault." I wasn't going to let him take the weight of this. I was just as much to blame as him, but it was a different picture if we looked at the whole thing. "It's the fault of whoever planted that thing, sick bastard."

His moping fell away to anger just as I'd come to expect. "Yeah, and I'm going to kick their ass! And you're coming with me!"

I hadn't expected that. He grabbed my wrist, tugging me along whatever direction he wanted to go. I was so turned around, I wasn't sure where we'd come from. "How stupid do I look wearing this thing on my face?" I asked as I forced my aching joints to move.

"You do not look stupid!" Nazca screeched. "I made that myself! And I expect to get it back once we get your eyes fixed, so don't mess it up." I imagined my blood had done enough damage by staining it already, but maybe it would wash out.

I heard something, a crack. It was just a branch snapping. It could have been leftover damage from the explosion. "Nazca," I whispered, jerking my head left. "Is someone over there?"

Silence held the air until the wind rustled the leaves overhead. Without my eyes, I felt as though I could hear every little thing, but that didn't make up for being blind.

"I think so," Nazca answered. "Wait here."

That was the last thing I wanted to hear. As soon as his grip left my wrist, I grabbed at the empty air in an attempt to catch him. "No," I hissed. "Get back here."

"It's fine," Nazca said, his voice trailing farther away. I did my best to follow after it, but the roots and uneven terrain slowed me down. "I said stay there," he huffed. "He looks fine to me."

"Who?" I demanded. "You can see him?" It was too quiet. If Nazca could see him, why wasn't the guy talking?

My hand drifted up toward my gun as the stranger's steps reached my ears again. I took another step forward only to walk into a tree. "Just stay still," Nazca said through a laugh.

A shot pierced the air, sharp like a scream. My breath caught in my throat, and I ripped my gun from the holster, all before I heard a body hit the ground. "Nazca?" I called with what little hope I had left. All that answered me was the shattering of a crystal on my wrist. The same sound echoed from the bastard somewhere ahead of me. Then he took another step.

I grit my teeth to suppress a yell. I had to keep quiet. If I placed his location first, I could kill the son of a bitch. My breath came in harsh bursts from anger, so I did what I could to suppress the noise. Turning, I placed my back to the tree and listened.

He took another step, his foot shifting to find the ground he wanted. If I was right, he was directly behind the tree, but he was making his way around. I was sure his gun was up, waiting for me. I had to be faster than someone already prepared.

Three breaths, I decided. Three deep breaths, and then I would take my shot. One, and I pressed myself to the edge of the tree, opposite the direction he was coming. Two, and he took a step of his own.

Three – one last breath.

I turned and fired into a black void of the unknown. His gun answered at the same time. All I could hope for was a good guess.

A fire tore through my gut. I staggered a step back before I fell.

Damn. How unlucky.

Living: 12  
Dead: 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, now we're caught up, so this is where I put my fun facts, which are generally not fun and incredibly underwhelming. Initially I considered putting in Wataru and Manabu as a team, but that would have required a very young Manabu, and Wataru isn't quite a Harlock. I scratched a lot of teams in this vein.


	6. Hollow Men

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got a request to continue this one, so here we are. Stares into the sun to avoid seeing all the errors in the old chapters.

“A” had gotten the better end of this deal.

I wasn’t sure why I agreed to search the jungle rather than the forest. I’d started in the forest, wandered around the place for ages. I’d seen more footprints than people, but I’d gotten to know the layout somewhat.

I knew nothing of the jungle except that it was far too quiet. Jungles were supposed to be a cacophony of animals and insects. The only sound in this fake world were the rustle of branches in the wind and the slosh of my boots after it started to rain. Few drops reached through the thick layer of leaves overhead, but that didn’t stop the ground from becoming thick with mud. Every step threatened to rip my boots off my feet.

I wondered if “B” was faring any better. We’d split off from each other as soon as we reached the jungle area. Even in the dense trees, he slipped away like a ghost. As soon as he was out of site, he was out of earshot as well. But there was no way he could keep up a trick like that with all the damn mud.

A thunderstorm would have been more helpful than just a downpour. Lightning would have provided some sight. Between the overcast skies and the overcast canopy, I couldn’t see more than a few meters ahead. The trees were all shadows that I used for stability as I bumbled along through the endless black void that was the rest of my surroundings. 

Not too far into my search, I thought the storm may have picked up, as I heard a clap of thunder roll in from the distance. But I never saw any lightning.

When one of the gems shattered apart in a clear, ringing note a minute later, my stomach turned over in my gut. As I squinted at the wristband in the low light to find one of the crescent-branded gems gone, another one cracked and fell away. “Damn,” I whispered as I turned my wrist over to find the second star gem broken like the first. I didn’t even know which group was gone. I had to hope their world wasn’t already destroyed. Maybe there was still a chance we could bring them back.

Before I could continue on, that damning sound pierced my ears again. Pointless as it was, I checked to see one of the gems marked with an X gone. I needed to hurry.

About the time I started to wonder how I was supposed to know when the sun rose or set, a familiar voice chimed in. “Wow, maybe white pants weren’t the best choice, huh?”

My steps ground to a halt, allowing the mud to steadily digest more of my feet as I turned to see Tochiro sitting on some low-hanging vines like a hammock. He wasn’t my Tochiro, but in the dark, I couldn’t spot a single difference.

“Yes,” I answered, knowing my pants were ruined. “But I don’t usually wander around in the wilderness for hours on end, and I didn’t really plan on this expedition, so the pants tend to work out fine.”

The brim of his hat bounced with his nodding. “So where are you headed?”

“I was looking for others.”

“You aiming to win?” He didn’t look too concerned with the idea. His staff lay across his lap, and I was certain I could have drawn faster than he could pull the hidden blade - another thing he had in common with my Tochiro.

“No, I want to have everyone regroup,” I said. “I’m working with some of the other men who look like me.”

He cracked a smile. “Well, they are you.”

“Not exactly,” I said with a shrug. “We’re all different in some way. I haven’t lost my right eye for one thing.”

His smile widened to a grin. “Yet.”

Judging by all the older versions of me, losing my eye was part of some odd destiny in my life, but then again, we were all on different paths. I couldn’t help but feel my chest burn with rebellion at the idea that I could break some part of my destiny and keep my eye. Still, the eyepatch did look cool.

“Regardless, would you be willing to come with me?” I asked. “I’m going to search for a while longer, and then we’ll return to the lake in the forest area with everyone we’ve found.”

Tochiro looked down at the mud, frowning. “I’d prefer not to die drowning in mud,” he said.

I couldn’t blame him for that. Yanking my boots free once again, I walked over to him. “I’ll carry you,” I said.

“Oof, my pride,” he said with a laugh.

I knelt in front of him to offer him my back. This wasn’t the first time I’d had to carry him. At least, I’d carried my Tochiro. The cowboy version of me may have done the same. “I’ll let you down once it dries,” I said. “Come on. I need an extra pair of eyes.”

“I won’t be much help there, but alright.” He climbed onto my back with a quiet grumble of, “Don’t tell Harlock about this, alright? Not you, the other Harlock. I mean- Franklin.”

“Franklin?” I asked as I righted myself. “That’s my middle name.”

“Oh? Franklin’s his first name. Weird demon thing did say y’all were different people though.” The brim of his hat would have kept the rain off my head if not for the holes. As things were, the brim tapped against the top of my head with each step.

“We’re certainly from different times,” I said, “but it’s probably best not to get into that. I don’t want to confuse you.”

“Please,” he snorted. “I’m so confused already. Not much you could do to make it worse. Ya’know we’re kind of vulnerable like this. If one of us gets shot, we both do.”

“I’m hoping to avoid conflict,” I said as I ducked away from some low-hanging brambles. “It’s for the best if I look less threatening.”

“Unless someone wants to pick us off.”

“I’m hoping everyone can be reasoned with.”

He said nothing in response. I had a feeling he was thinking about all the shattered gems around his wrist just as I was. Maybe those who were killing were just doing it out of fear like A said. Maybe they could be talked down.

But I would use my saber if necessary. I would not let myself die at their hands.

“Do you hear that?” Tochiro asked as the rain began to let up. “I think I hear someone.”

I halted my steps and inclined my head to hear better. Somewhere ahead of us, someone was yelling. They were too far and too faint to make out, but where there was yelling, there may have been a flight.

Tochiro yelped as I broke into a run, admittedly difficult while carrying him. To keep the wind or branches from ripping away his hat, he pulled the brim down and held it. The trees and mud made navigation difficult. I struggled not to lose my footing as everything tried to rip it out from under me.

As we neared the source of the noise, I was able to make out some of what was being said.

“I’m telling you, I didn’t kill anyone!”

“You wouldn’t run if you weren’t guilty!”

“I ran because that guy was trying to kill me! You won’t gain anything from this!”

“Put your gun down!”

“Not unless you do!”

Tochiro whined like a nervous dog. “I think it’s the kids,” he said.

I wasn’t sure if I needed to yell. It could startle them out of their standoff, but it could just as easily startle them into firing. But with their voices trilling, I could sense the tension would end with a snap at any moment. My body responded for me.

“Wait!” I screamed.

Too late.

The first blast was the distinct sound of a cosmo dragoon, a flurry of power that sucked the wind from the air. Another shot responded from a standard blaster. One of the gems burst with a gentle chime.

“No!” Tochiro cried as my heart seemed to rip from my chest. I was so close. So damn close.

I couldn’t chance anything, so I dropped Tochiro to pull my saber. “Hang on!” he yelled at my back as I rushed ahead to a clearing.

They were both there, one on his knees with his hand across his face. “No, no, no,” he whispered to himself endlessly. A shot had eaten through his right shoulder. 

Across from him lay the other boy. Frays of his hair had fallen across his still face, but I knew him. Blond - he was A’s kid. He’d taken a direct hit through the chest, but he must have seen his death coming. He’d fallen with his hand clutched over the wound.

Tochiro appeared behind me, whispering, “Damn, poor kid.”

The other one didn’t seem to be a threat, so i walked over to the kid’s body. He had the cosmo dragoon, fallen at his side. He’d fired first, damn stupid kid. I closed his unseeing eyes and wiped the mud from his cheek. Poor kid had mud up past his knees. Must have been a struggle for him to get through the jungle.

Looking back at the other guy, I found him staring at me, his eyes hollow. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to… I tried to…”

He looked close to my age. If I remembered right, he’d been the one with the tall version of me. I couldn’t find much sympathy in myself for him.

“We’re all grouping back up at the lake,” I said. He didn’t flinch as I stood and strode toward him. As much as I wanted to leave then and get away from the body, the wound in his shoulder needed attention. Oddly, there had clearly been another blast that hit a tree not far from the guy. I’d definitely only heard two shots.

Taking my saber, I cut the tail from my jacket. “We’ll wrap your shoulder and then go,” I said before biting the corner of the fabric and slicing off what had become soaked in mud. I tossed that aside.

The guy kept rambling. “He thought I killed those people back at the forest, but I didn’t kill anyone. I…”

He must have wanted something from me, some comfort perhaps. I had none for him. “Tell me what happened,” I said as I ripped the fabric to pieces for his shoulder. The blood had soaked down his arm, helped along by the rain. He wouldn’t die, but the damage looked ugly. The arm hung limp at his side.

“I-I was in the forest,” he began, his eye locked on the ground, likely to avoid looking at the boy. “There was a blast, an explosion. It sounded bad, so I went to check. The blast site was horrible. The trees were all warped. There were a couple kids there, but only one of them had any scratches. God, he looked terrible. His back was all ripped up, but I think he was shot in the head. There may have been a shot through his temple. I don’t know. I tried not to look. The other one was shot in the stomach. I checked to see if he was still alive, but he was gone.

“There was another guy- one of you. God, I thought he was dead. He was covered in blood. He had a hole in his gut. Both him and the second kid had guns near them. I don’t know who shot who. I don’t know…”

He heaved a sigh as I knelt beside him to wrap his shoulder. I should have urged him to continue or stayed quiet. Tochiro ambled over to sit beside him, opposite me. I don’t know who it was for, but there was pity in Tochiro’s eyes.

“Who were they?” I asked against my better judgement.

The man winced as though I’d slapped him. “The other Harlock was the one in blue. The boy I checked on had a reddish-brown jacket and dirty blond hair.” I could remember the other version of me, but the boy was difficult to recall. “The other boy… He had a green vest and reddish hair.”

He sucked in a breath as I pulled the bandage tight enough to cut off blood flow. As soon as I realized what I’d done, I gave some slack.

Nazca had been killed. Nazca had died in pain. Someone had hurt him.

“I-I’m sorry,” the man attempted. “Was he-?”

“Continue,” I spat. It didn’t matter if he was lying. It didn’t matter if he’d been the one to kill Nazca. It didn’t matter because we had to stick together. We couldn’t be part of the game. It didn’t matter. It didn’t matter.

The guy swallowed his nerves before returning to his story, his voice shaking more than before. “The other Harlock was still alive somehow, just barely. He had something over his eyes, so he couldn’t see… Actually, his face looked pretty scratched up. The explosion may have hurt his eyes. I’m not sure, but he heard me, I guess. Called me over.”

The guy took a deep, shuddering breath. “He asked me to finish him off. He must have been in a lot of pain, and his wounds would have killed him sooner or later. He was in such bad shape. There was no saving him, so I did as he asked. Shot him point blank in the head. If I’d thought there was any other way, I wouldn’t have, but…” He shook the thought away, his eyes clenched shut.

“Then I heard someone yelling. Called me a bastard. Started shooting at me. It was another Harlock, I think. He must have thought I’d killed them. I was able to dodge most of his shots because of the trees, but he got me in the shoulder.”

That explained the extra shot to the tree nearby. The kid hadn’t been the one to hit him.

“I was able to get away, made it all the way here, but then that kid ran across me. He was suspicious because of all the deaths.” He nodded toward the wristband on his limp arm. “Pulled his gun on me. I tried to explain, but that made him more suspicious. He was really freaked. Mentioned something about finding a corpse already.” His left hand returned to cover his face. “Things got so heated. I didn’t want to shoot him. I shouldn’t have… God, he was so young. I’ve never killed a kid. I would never…”

I finished tying off the bandages and released the tension that had been building in my jaw. “There’s still a chance we can bring everyone back,” I said to myself as much as him. He didn’t complain when I grabbed him by the arm and yanked him to his feet. “Come on. It’s probably about time to go back.”

“If we’re going back to the forest and that other Harlock sees me, he might try to kill me again,” he said.

“I’ll try to reason with him.”

“Maybe I should be the one to do that,” Tochiro piped in. “And you don’t have to drag the guy back, Harlock.” I hadn’t realized I’d maintained my crushing grip on his arm. I let my hand relax and fall back to my side. Reaching up, Tochiro patted the man’s uninjured arm. “Hey, you never said your name.”

“I’m Yama.”

Tochiro offered a shadow of his usual smile. “Nice to meet you, Yama. My name’s Tochiro Oyama. That’s Harlock, but not Franklin Harlock.”

Confusion broke through Yama’s daze. “Yes, I know Harlock,” he said. “Have either of you seen my captain? He’s tall and has gold armor plating.”

I had a hard time believing Yama was a pirate. He was too weak, too uncontrolled. I never would have let him be part of my crew, but then again, I’d let Nazca join. That kid was always a short circuit away from a blown fuse. Uncontrollable, but certainly not weak. I had to fight back the rage swelling up inside me at the idea that someone hurt and killed a member of my crew. It was a captain’s job to protect his crew, and Nazca was far too young to die.

“I haven’t seen him,” I said as I tried to fight back the anger curling my hand into a fist.

Tochiro shook his head. “Haven’t really seen anyone. Too hard to see around here. The forest sounds nicer, especially if there’s a lake. I’d like to get some of this mud off my feet, and we ought to clean your wound. Also, are either of you hungry? I’m not, haven’t been this whole time. It’s so weird because I was starving back home.”

He went on like that, trying to diffuse the situation. As we headed back toward the forest, I caught one last glance of the dead boy. He shouldn’t have taken that shot, but he was just a kid, a scared kid. He had no place here. Nazca was the same, not the type for bloodshed, no matter how much he tried to pretend otherwise. If I won, I could get him back.

No, I couldn’t think like that. It was what that thing wanted from us. There was still a chance we could best it. If it sent us all back, Nazca would be there. Surely…

But if it came down to war, I would not go out easily. I would fight to survive.

If I was honest with myself, I couldn’t fault Yama for shooting back when shot at. I would have done the same.

Living: 10  
Dead: 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good job, Daibas.


	7. O Captain! My Captain!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not even death could stop me from writing first person pov for every Harlock.

“Checkmate.”

Their eyes went wide, presumably skimming the board for their mistake. It could be difficult to tell what they were looking at with their lack of pupils.

“How are you so good at this stupid game?” they growled, flicking over the white king piece.

“I’ve played it many times,” I said, not that it would have mattered. God or not, the being was terrible at chess. Daiba could have beaten them.

But the game board vanished along with all the pieces. The god was finicky and, just like after attempting a few rounds of cards, said, “We should play a different game.”

They seemed to pay no attention to the many scenes surrounding us. Appearing like portholes in the void, the windows showed the progress of each remaining man. When two met, the portholes would fuse into one. Similarly, below our feet was a slab of glass, underneath which was a flat mock-up of the map where all the men wandered.

Each of their locations were marked by symbols along the map. A grayed-out star showed where my corpse lay in the jungle, and I could watch my killer’s progress through the forested region. So often, the symbols would move close enough to almost touch, yet the portholes did not. The two men would never see each other.

The god only looked up from our games when two men met, looking back down when it became apparent they wouldn’t fight. Things had gone on in this manner since I’d woken from death to find myself in the odd, endless area. Beyond the table where we both sat was a web of red threads. There must have been billions of them, surrounding us like a nest. They stretched out and up beyond what I could see.

“What’s a human game you haven’t played?” the god asked, dragging my attention from where Daiba looked over some silver object he’d found.

“How can I explain the rules if I haven’t played it?” I asked.

They huffed like a child. “Very well. Just name another game.”

“If you simply want a luck game, there’s always War. It’s another card game, but you’ll have just as much of a chance to win as I would.” And I would hardly have to pay attention, which was good. I was far more interested in the goings on of the other game, even if they weren’t.

But a couple rounds into flipping cards over, they perked up like a cat spotting prey. With a snap of their fingers, sound filtered in from one of the windows - one with a younger me and a boy about Daiba’s age.

“Your partner is a cruel one,” the god said as I realized what the silver object he’d been tinkering with was.

The blast made me wince while the god grinned. I wouldn’t deny that Daiba was capable of murder, but this…

“How was he able to activate that?” I asked as the young boy lied about his injuries and the other me didn’t seem to realize the extent of his own. “Daiba wouldn’t know how to work an explosive or a bear trap for that matter.”

The god flicked a long strand of hair behind its back with a shrug. “He had a drive and willingness to use the information, so I gave it to him. I’ve been setting all of this up for some time, so I’ve gathered knowledge from different worlds on how these traps function. If he or anyone else wants to set a trap, who am I to hold them back?”

“But Daiba wouldn’t want something like that.”

At the god’s laugh, all the red threads shook as though whipped in a storm. “Really? You’re still making excuses for him?” They gestured to the window with a wave of their hand as Daiba shot the other boy point blank. The boy hadn’t even seen his death coming. Just like I hadn’t.

“You did something to him,” I said. Daiba’s stare was too cold, too empty. No one could have denied that Daiba was emotional. He wore his heart on his sleeve and on his face and everywhere else.

That was not Daiba.

The god clicked their tongue. “I don’t see why you keep making excuses for him just because you didn’t expect him to be such a cold-blooded murderer. He killed you too after all.”  

“All the more reason for me to believe you altered his mind in some way,” I said. “If his true aim is to win, why take me out so quickly?”

I’d found him sitting against a tree, shivering with his clothes soaked through. He aimed his gun at me at first, only lowering it once he realized who I was. I offered to let him use my cape to warm up while he let his clothes dry, but he refused with a quick “no.”

“What happened to you?” I asked. “Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine,” he said, his voice even under the trembling. “I just came from the place with all the snow. It was damn cold.”

“Run into anyone yet?”

I knew from the way his eyes darted to the side that he was about to lie. “I had a scuffle with some guy, but he ran off,” he said.

I couldn’t be angry with him, not in some impossible situation like this, but I couldn’t let him make such a mistake again. “You initiated a fight, didn’t you?” I asked.

He remained silent for a stretch, until blue-tinged lips murmured “Better to shoot first. I’m not going to die here.”

Based on where he’d spent his childhood, I could understand why he had such ideals. Under different circumstances, I may have accepted them. “We won’t die here,” I said, keeping my voice calm so as not to set him off. The last thing I needed was him broiling with rage in a place like this. “But our best chance at survival is to join with the other teams. It seemed none of them wished to participate either, and I feel certain we have better odds as a group.”

For the first time, he looked at me, his brows pinched. “No one would win. Eventually we’d just get stabbed in the back. We have to fight, Captain.”

“Even if we were to win one or two fights, one of them would take us down eventually, and I will not sacrifice seven other worlds for the sake of one. Our enemy is not each other. It’s the one who put us all here. We must fight that god.”

He staggered to his feet with a snarl. “You don’t win a battle by just letting the enemy win. If you don’t fight back, you have nothing. Our odds might be low, but they’re better if we stick together and just take out anyone we come across.”

“Even that boy who looks much younger than you? You’d be willing to kill a child?”

“We’ll lose all the children in our world otherwise! The other teams don’t deserve to win anymore than we do. I’m not going to lose my world. I’ve already lost enough.”

He must have been acting on fear to be so unreasonable. Perhaps his shaking from the cold hid his trembling from anxiety. But fear was not an excuse for me to let him remain such a danger to the others.

Drawing my saber, I used the blade to snag the gun from his holster. He wasn’t quick enough to grab it from me, his hands swiping empty air. “Captain, what are you doing?” he snapped.

“If anyone attacks, I’ll defend us, but I cannot allow you to initiate. We’re going to find another way out of this, Daiba. I need you to cool your head and take stock of the situation. I understand where you’re coming from, but you’re playing a fool’s game.”

Though his face remained a mask, his shoulders dropped in defeat. I could still sense his anger stirring like lava beneath a cooled surface, but he followed without further argument when I asked him to, always a few steps behind.

Perhaps I should have attempted to talk to him more. Perhaps I should have kept an eye on him.

Hindsight and all that.

But I never would have expected him to snatch his own gun from my holster and shoot me through the back. I never would have expected it because Daiba would not do something like that. I refused to believe it, even as I felt myself hit the ground. Death snatched me up too quickly. The last thing I was able to do was look up and see his empty expression.

He wore it even now, as he faced off against another version of me. But this time his plan failed him. Even without eyes, the other me managed a perfect shot, and Daiba went down. We were the first ones out, and he was the only one to have killed.

“Disappointing,” the god sighed. “Looks like your world’s out of time. I’d hoped the boy would have stirred things up a little more, but four kills isn’t bad. You trained him well.”

“Bring him here,” I said.

They turned enough to presumably be looking at me, pupil-less eyes narrowing. “Giving me orders now? You should watch your tongue.”

“I want to talk to him.”

“Why? You’re both dead now. You gain nothing.”

I shrugged. “Call it curiosity. It’s a terribly human thing. I want to ask why he did all of that - why he killed me.”

Though their gaze remained a thin line, they returned to watching the corpses in the porthole. “He killed you because you stood in the way of his victory,” they said. “That should be apparent.”

“Then let me hear him say it.”

I couldn’t imagine those words coming out of Daiba’s mouth, not without prompting. Daiba did not posses the stone-faced resolve I’d seen him wear. He was too honest, too angry and too fearful. The first time he saw a dead man, he nearly broke into a fit of empty laughter. When faced with the threat of death himself, he backed away trembling. His emotions were simply that unstable. Perhaps he was too young for me to ask any more of him, but he was learning.

I was not training him to be a merciless killer. I would never accept such an insult.

The god sighed, a sound like metal being torn apart. “Poor man’s still alive,” they said as they snapped their fingers.

Before I could look to see what they were talking about, Daiba appeared beside me. His eyes were blown wide but didn’t appear to see anything. I was forced from my chair as his legs dropped out from under him, as though he’d forgotten he was standing.

“Daiba?” I called, holding his limp form up by my arms hooked under his.

He spoke as though he were fighting off sleep. “…Captain? What’s…? Where…?”

“He just died, so he’s not altogether at the moment,” the god said, still focused on the goings-on of the game. “Ah, I suppose I lied. He only got three kills.”

Glancing to the view of the game, I watched one of the other men shoot the younger version of me through the head. The shot to the gut must not have finished him off, poor bastard.

“Oh, this is getting fun,” the god sang.

But I had no interest in the game. We were out of it, after all. What the other teams did was up to them. Perhaps they could come together. Perhaps not.

Easing Daiba to the ground, I let him sit and gather his bearings. After a few dozen blinks, he was able to see clearly enough to look at me. I knelt in front of him, waiting. I doubted I should need to ask a question. He would know what I wanted to hear.

His hand rose to clutch his head as he came back to himself. “Captain, you’re… you’re alive?”

“Yes and no. We both appear to be in some sort of purgatory, but we both died.” A twitch of my head brought Daiba’s gaze to where the god sat. From there, his eyes trailed around the room until he found the map under his knees.

“I died?” he echoed. “I remember I killed you, and then…” His teeth sank into his lower lip so hard that blood welled up from the abused skin. “I-I’m sorry, Captain. I just wanted… I just thought…” His other hand shot to his head as well, his eyes clenched shut. “Dammit! That was insane! What was I doing!? I killed that guy! I just shot him!”

Another echoing snap cut him off. His eyes tore open, and his arms shot to hold his stomach. I had to clutch his shoulders to keep him from pitching forward. “No, no, no,” he whispered. “This is… This happened before. No, not again. Not again!” His whole body trembled just like back in the jungle. A line of blood ran from the corner of his mouth, followed by a river. It bubbled from his lips, choking him with every breath.

“What did you do!?” I demanded from the god.

“I’ve given you enough time,” they said, their voice as empty as their eyes. “I’m returning his wound to him. I don’t like bringing back corpses under someone else’s orders.”

“You bastard,” Daiba snarled. Blood splattered along the floor with each of his words. “You were the one!” Despite my attempts to hold him steady, he forced his feet beneath him. “I’ll kill you! I won’t let you get away with this.”

Daiba staggered to his feet as the god watched him, unflinching. The whole of Daiba’s shirt and sleeves were dyed red, blooming further across the fabric with his every step. I stood to ensure he wouldn’t fall again. There was nothing more I could do.

Bloodied hands curled into the front of the god’s pure-white shirt even as Daiba hacked and choked up more globs of blood. His whole body shook like a plucked cord.

“You did everything on your own,” the god said. “Do not try to pretend otherwise. And you cannot kill me. You can’t even harm me. This is the end for you. Accept your death with some grace.”

Daiba’s teeth shone with spit and blood as he smiled. “One of us is going to make you bleed, you bastard. We’ll make you hurt.”

The light vanished from his eyes even before I caught him. By the time I settled him to the ground, he was nothing but a lifeless doll. The god had simply reversed time in bringing him here alive and then had allowed it to flow again. That must have been it then. I finally understood.

I knew how the game worked.

“Why did I remember dying when he didn’t?” I asked, one last curiosity.

“I let you maintain that memory,” they said as they scowled down at their bloodstained clothes. “It’s such a pain to explain to humans that they’ve died.” They clicked their tongue again before looking at me. “Since there are others now, I think I’ll play with one of them. I’m done with you.”

Another snap, and fire punched through my back. The pain blinded me, but it was familiar. I was able to catch myself on one knee before I hit the floor. “He’s right,” I said through rasping breaths. “You can’t keep this up. We’re going to rebel, and you will bleed.”

“Oh?” they answered with clear disinterest. I could see a hazy outline of them through the white fog in my vision, watching some other window instead of me. It seemed my death was only entertaining by someone else’s hands.

“You did manipulate him, didn’t you?” I demanded. I wanted to hear them admit it. No more lying. I’d had enough.

“I merely encouraged the ideas already in his head. He wanted to win, so I showed him how. I gave him the necessary tools, but it was still all by his own hand. If he hadn’t had the drive in the first place, my inflating it would have meant nothing.”

“Of course he wanted to win,” I said with a low growl. “We all do. Anyone would. It’s the fact that we can bury that primal drive that makes us human. We’re willing to care about more than just ourselves, but you wouldn’t understand.”

Somehow the cool glass floor hit my cheek. I couldn’t see anything. The pain was fading.

“So I needed a catalyst,” they scoffed. “He made for an easy one. It doesn’t matter. Give up. This is your end.”

“No it’s not,” I breathed. “I remember.”

Their voice wavered. “Remember what!?” 

Like Daiba, I forced a smile with what was left of me. “Everything.”

The sound of the god screaming in denial followed me to another death. For now, everything was up to those who were left. For now, I was gone.

For now.

Living: 10  
Dead: 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now back to the action.


End file.
